North America
North America straddles the hemispheres of the northern and western hemispheres. The Arctic Ocean borders North America on the North, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the South. Because of colonialism's history, many North Americans speak English, French, or Spanish.
East Asia
On the other hand, the Chinese have a massive influence in East Asia. China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, and Taiwan are all part of East Asia. Chinese people have a vast economic, technological, political, and cultural impact on the rest of the world. This research aims to look at the differences and similarities between the North and the South.
Culture
Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism are among religions practiced across East Asia. Buddhist ideas such as simplicity and delicacy have been of major influence to Japanese music, theater, and dance. East Asians have a history of exchanging cultural practices amongst each other. Japan's central government and city planning are ideas borrowed from China. Buddhism too, spread from China than to Korea and Japan. People from this region put a great emphasis on collectivism, which contrasts North America's culture of individualism. Children are taught to put group goals before personal desires and maintain good relationships amongst family, friends, and neighbors.This harmony is achieved by avoiding conflicts and helping each other.
Similarly, distinct sub-cultures are found within each culture, which all unite to form the North-American culture.
There are people of different races and religion especially in the dominant country which is the United States of America. Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and Sikhism are some of the religions practiced in North America. Individualism is emphasized more than the traditional societies of extended family structures. People make their own choices while respecting the subjectivity and rights of others. It is expected that once a young person reaches the age of eighteen, he/she should get a part-time job so as to take care of oneself as opposed to East Asian parents who take care of their young ones until marriage. Art is also a form of expression that is widely practiced by North Americans. Their music, painting, theater, dance, and literature are appreciated universally.
Economy
The foundation of economic security in North America is the markets integration of Canada, Mexico and United States. It is the largest and strongest market in the world as Canada and the United States already have well developed economies.USA for example, has a very large, developed and flexible technological economy. Technological advancements have ensured continuous growth as new methods to better and increase output are implemented. There is also faster production of goods and services. North American markets depend so much on each other and have open and flexible migration polices that its populations easily mix bringing about the same drive for success. It also has a very strong domestic and export economy focused on its resources like oil and mineral deposits. North American younger population as compared to the aging population of East Asia, ensures a more energetic and flexible workforce which adds to the continent's economic growth.
Nonetheless, East Asia is a region that has been inclusive by having a strong intra-regional trade among its members.
This integration allows them to support output and employment among its people. The region also has enormous excess savings to finance their growth and also protect them from a possible crisis. Technology too plays a major role in the region's development. People in this region have learned to use technology faster and more efficiently and this ensures increased output. China and Japan both boast of very highly skilled workforce especially technologically which has brought about intensive growth. Investment flows in China are also high due to increased capital stock. Due to the increase in aging population; Japan and South Korea have turned to the foreign workforce, who faces a language barrier and cultural resistance. This is an issue that has slowed down their economic growth.
Population
East Asian countries have a very high aging population. In early 2015, China declared a termination of the one-child policy for couples to have multiple children so as to boost its aging population. In Japan too, the population is shrinking, one of the reasons being that the fertility rate is lower than the needed for replacement rate. This has had a negative effect on the country's workforce. Misra (para1) states that there is a big growth of population in urban centers in this region. People are concentrated in the urban area because they move to towns and cities to search for jobs and better living conditions hence the large cities. There is low immigration to the region due to cultural the resistance that foreigners face and language barrier.
In recent years, there has been a decline in population in North America due to declining fertility rates and less immigration.
Mather (para5) argues that most immigrants go to the United States to work and start families afterward, leading to an increase immigrant youth population. The decrease in immigrants, therefore, reduces the number of potential young people in the population. Declining fertility rates have led to a natural population decrease.
Politics
Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea have western style democratic governments, while China remains a one-party state. Chinese dismiss democratic movements arguing that they don't represent real Asian values. The congress system is the official system of government in China. The success of their economy further reemphasizes their stand that a one-party system is a way to go. However, this kind of government control has caused unfavorable outcomes. Politicians have too much power over contracts, government funding, licenses and the business world. Consequently, the politicization of the economy has led to problems like manipulation of share prices and real estate. There is also a lot of corruption due to political involvement; in democratic Japan too there is increased corruption.
On the other hand, North American countries are multi-party states.
The United States is a federal government which comprises of the president, congress, and federal courts. The three sections share powers reserved to the government in accordance with their constitution. The major difference between the United States and other developed countries the great power entrusted to the legislature and the Supreme Court. There is a clear stipulated separation of power between the legislature and executive and the dominance of the Democratic and Republican Party.
Conclusion
The culture and the economy of the East Asia have been largely influenced by China. This is because China was the civilization with the most dominance in the East Asia region. The Chinese art and classics formed the basis for the civilized life in East Asia and this can be traced in the architectural style, writing as well as political and legal systems in Korea and Japan. Nonetheless, the ethnic and cultural practices in North America are a reflection of the interactions the North Americans had with the indigenous people, the European colonialists' ad the African slaves. Geographically, the North America is divided into regions and sub-religions. The divisions include the economic, cultural and the geographic regions. The economic regions are formed by trade blocs through the trade agreements such as the North American Trade Agreement.
Works Cited
Bathelt, Harald. The spatial economy of North American trade fairs. 2012. Web 28th November 2017 http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1541-0064.2011.00396.x\/full
Misra, Tanvi. East Asia's massive urban growth in 5 infographics. 2015. Web 28th November 2017 https:\/\/www.citylab.com\/equity\/2015\/01\/east-asias-massive-urban-growth-in-5-infographics\/384960\/
Mather, Mark. What's driving the decline in U.S population growth? 2012. Web 27th November 2017 http:\/\/www.prb.org\/publications\/Articles\/2012\/us-populatio-growth-decline-aspx
